Plan file



Jan. 30, '1940. c. B. ULRICH 2,138,669

PLAN FILE Filed Nov. 26, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J1 if 5!- i: 51

INVENTOR.

C'HARLEE 5. OLE/CH.

BY MGM ATTORNEY.

c. B. ULRICH 2,188,669

Jan. 30, 1940.

PLAN FILE Filed Nov. 26, 1957 3 Sheefcs-Sheet 2 I; EA MWE 5: gig d. 1

2 4 1 u U Q2 @M? :h,

INVENTOR CHARLES 5. ULRICH ATTORNEY.

Jan. 30, 1940."

c. B. ULRICH PLAN FILE Filed Nov. 26, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Iii 0 INVENTOR. 621,421.55 5. UL R/CH BY mu Z M ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 30, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFice 7 6 Claims.

"My invention consists of an improved construction' for filing in vertical position large plans, drawings, tracings and the like, in any desired classified arrangement, by means of suspended pockets supported in an enclosing casing and by the side walls thereof. By my invention I provide cross members of novel construction secured tothe upper edges of and supporting the filing pockets of the device, which cross members are supported at their end portions in channel struc tures or bars in the'inner and upper portions of the side walls of the casing, and extending from front to rear of said casing, in which channel structures said cross members may move readily forwardly and rearwardly in said casing to readily give said members a spacing from front to rear of the casing, corresponding to the thickness of the contents of the file pockets, which contents may have widely different thicknesses 2o relatively to each other and may. change substantially from time to time, as the use of the plan file and the distribution of its contents may make desirable. 1

In my preferred construction, said cross members are provided at their end portions with antifriction rollers contained in and rolling on said channel structures, so that said cross members and the filing pockets suspended therefrom may move freely to accommodate unequal and changing thicknesses of'the-material filed in the several pockets-without thought on the part of the person using the file. Y

My invention alsoprovides a means for separating the lower portions of the file pockets into desired groups and holding each group in a de- .sired location in the lower part of the file casing, which tends to maintain flexible sheet mate-rial in verticalposition when filed in considerable thickness orto a large number in any one or more of said pockets, if an adjacent group of pockets happens to contain little or no filed material.

My improved construction also preferably employs expansible resilient means such, for example, as helico-spiral wire springs between the i outer surfaces of adjacent pockets, exerting sulfa cient compression on the pockets to hold the contents thereof ,in vertical position, particularly when the thickness of material filed in the pockets is small.

My invention will be best understood by ref erence tothe accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical, sectional view through the file, taken from front to rear thereof along the line 'l-l in Fig. 2, Fig. 2 in a vertical, transverse sectional view through the file,-taken along the line 2 -2 in V Fig. 1, 1

3 shows in a 'view similar to Fig. 2 and to an enlarged scale, the. roller and channel construction supporting one end of one of the cross.

members of the file,

Fig. 4 is a vertical, sectional view of a part of the structure shown in Fig. 3, taken along the line 4- 1 on Figs.2 and 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical, sectional view to an enlarged scale, of a part of the structure shown in Fig. 2, taken along the line 5-5 in the latter figure,

Fig. 6 shows in a view similar to Fig. 2 and to an enlarged scale, the lower, left hand portion of the structure shown in Fig. 2, t i

Fig. 7 shows in a view similar to Fig. 3, a mod ified construction of poclet-supporting cross members for the file, and the casing construction cooperating with the same, and I Fig. 8 is a vertical, sectional view through a part of the structure shown in Fig. '7, taken along the line 8--8 of the latter figure.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown in Fig. 1, the front wall ill of the casing consists of inner and outer metal sheets H and i2 spaced from each other by channel members It, I3 secured to the sheet H, and

bearing against a thickness of fire-resistant material 44 held thereby against the inner surface of the sheet l2. The rear wall of the casing (not shown), is preferably similarly made.

- At its upper edge, the sheet it is bent to form a rab-bet l5 to receive a downwardly extending flange H5 at the edge of the removable cover ll, which cover consists of upper and lower metal sheets I8 and 19 containing fire-resistant material 26 between them. The extreme upper edge portion of the sheet [2 is folded over the inturned upper edge portion of the; sheet H to secure the upper edges of said sheets together, for'example, by welding or brazing, and a sheet metal channel 2| is secured below the rabbet 15 to said sheets to reinforce them and to hold the upper edge portion of the material M in place.

Each of the side walls of the casing is made similarly to the front wall described, excepting that its inner metal sheet is in two parts 22 and 23 separated vertically to leave a slot 24 between them, through which the ends of cross members 25 extend to be supported by rollers 26 in a channel member 2'7 in the side wall, in the manner below described.

Each of thecross members 25 supports the vertical members 28, preferably of thin sheet metal, of the filing pockets carried by said cross members 25, the lower ends of adjacent ones of said vertical members being connected by strips 29 of flexible fabric forming pockets between said cross members and above the bottom. Sill of the casing to support in vertical position, folders containing the filed sheets, said bottom 30 preferably consisting of metal sheets and interposed fireresistant material as indicated. Said pockets support between them springs 3! secured to the vertical members 28, which tend to hold the said vertical members of each pocket in contact with each other, and to compress the sheets filed in the pocket to hold them in vertical position, and which also tend to prevent the curling and doubling of the filed sheets in the bottom part of any folder.

To further insure against heavily loaded pockets encroaching upon the space occupied by other pockets which may either be empty or lightly loaded, and to generally hold the pockets in their proper positions in the lower portion of the casing, I provide vertical partitions 32 just above the bottom 39 and supported by slots o3 in the side walls as below described, so that said partitions may be given any desired spacing and separate the lower portions of the pockets into groups according to the loading of the pockets or for any other reason indicating the desirabil ity of such grouping.

As shown in Fig. 2, a bent sheet metal member 34 extends from the upper edge of the sheet 23 to the outer sheet 35 of the side wall through the fire-resistant material 35 of the side wall, to which sheets said member is secured to aiTcrd a substantial support for the channel member 21 which rests on said member 34, said bent member 3 and said channel member 2! extending from front to rear of the casing to form a continuous support and runway for the rollers 26. As more clearly shown in Fig. 3, the upper edge portion of the sheet 23-15 preferably secured to the inner flange of the member 34 and to the lower flange of the channel member '27, by screws 3?, the outer flange of the member 34 being secured to the sheet 35, for example, by welding. The upper flange of the channel member 21 is preferably secured to the lower edge portion of the sheet 22 by means of screws 38, and just below the upper edge of the side wall, the sheet 22 is secured by screws 39 to the inner flange of a bent sheet metal spacing and re inforcing member 40 having its outer flange resting against the material 36, said member it being also connected by screws 4!, to the upper bent portion 35a of the sheet 35. I find that the screw connections referred to are convenient in assembling the parts, but my invention is not limited thereto, as I may use any equivalent connecting means.

As shown in Fig. the end portion of each cross member 25 consists of a horizontal metal rod 42 which extends through the slot 2 3 and is of reduced diameter at its end portion. to form.

a bearing 42a for the roller 23. The shoulder 42?) on the rod 42 at the end of the bearing 42a, when the two similar side constructions of the casing and members 25 are considered, limitsthe longitudinal movement of the members 25 in the casing and also axial movement of the rollers '26 on their bearings. As shown in Fig. 4, the rod 42 is of circular cross section, and the body portion of the cross member 25 is of sheet metal wrapped tightly around said rod so that the lower edge portions of the sheet metal are parallel and pressed closely together, in which position the parts are secured, for example, by welding. V The rod ti. extends but a short distance into the sheet metal of the cross member 25, ending just before the adjacent vertical members 23 of the pockets carried by the cross member 25, are reached. As shown in Fig. 5, each cross member 2 5 is of circular cross section at its 2,188,669 i formed upper portion, and the upperend of each vertical member 28 is bent to semi-circular cross section at 28c, so the formed upper ends or" eachtwo adjacent members 28, tightly fit in the-circular portion of the cross member, in

which position the parts are secured, for example, by welding.

As shown in Fig. 2, the sheet 23 has secured'to it, for example, by welding, spacing channel members 43 and 4 extending to the material 32 is provided with end lugs 32a, 32a having the same vertical spacing as the slots 33, each of 10 36, the spacing member 44 being substantially in f line with the upper edges of the partitions 32.=

As shown in Fig. 6, each end of each partition.

said lugs having, a height somewhat less than the height of said slots so the lugs may pass,

freely through any vertical pair of saidslots that may be selected. Adjacent the ends of'the partition 32, eachlug 32a is provided with a,

downwardly opening notch 32!), so that when the lugs on any partitionare inserted in selected ones of the slots 33, the partition may be moved downwardly to interlock the lugs with the'inner sheets of the side walls to hold the partition against displacement. The partitions 32 are preferably of a lengthexclusive of saidlugs. Q substantially equal to the inside dimension of the casing between its side walls, and said partitions are preferably of resilient sheet material that may be flexed to enter the partition lugs in selected slots 33, so that with the partitions again in their flat condition, they will rest against the casing side walls with'their lugs interlocked therewith as described. The reinforcing member i4 is preferably in line with the upper horizontal row of slots 33, so that the engagement of the partitions 32 with the side Wall may have the reinforcement incident to said'member 44.

In the modified construction illustrated in Fig.

'7, each end of each cross member 25a consists of a flat plate 45 of metal having a notch 46 in its lower edge to receive the upper edges of the sheet 23 and of the inner flange of the supporting member 34; the channel member 5'21 is not shown as a partof the structure illustrated in Fig.7, and a formed sheet metal member 4'! extends from the lower edge of the sheet 22 to the outer sheet 35 of the casing to support said sheet 22. The parts may be secured together in any desired manner, for example, by Welding.

In' Fig. 8 the relation of the plate 45 to the end portion of the cross member 25a is illustrated. Excepting as described, the remainder of the'file construction may be the same as described in connection with Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive. The-construction illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8 is lesseX-' pensive to make than the construction described in connection with Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, but is, quite serviceable for files used only occasionally,

stand hard whereas the roller suspension will usage for long periods of time.

It will be understood that in using the plan file above described, folders are generally employed in the pockets to hold the filed sheets of drawings, tracings,

erably extend somewhat above the pockets and also above the filed material, to permit ready reference to and the'partial or complete removal of any particular folder and its contentswhen desired, one folder being employed usually for each particular subject matter; also that' the folders are preferably of a width substantially equal to the inside widthjof thecasing, and that blue-prints and/or otherpapers and filed material, which folders pref-' hands together filling the tube of the correI-I- the folders and casing are of sufficient size to file the sheets in flat and unfolded condition, it

being practicable tov so file sheets as large as 42 inches long by 30 inches wide,,orlarger. The number of pairs of'vertical members 28 employed to constitute each pocket, is determined by the length of the folders used, three pairs of said members being sufficient for'a pocket for folders 42'inches long. Said folders are not illustrated linvthe drawings as theydo not of themselves,"

constitute a part of the present invention, which provides means for easily-and automatically adjusting the spacing of the cross members supporting the pockets, to suit changesln the dis-' tribution of the contents of the pocketsand as may otherwise, facilitate the use of the file.

'As said pocket construction is adapted to support the filed contents in the mannerdescribed, or otherwise, as the nature of the filedcontents may make desirabletby referring in the specification and claims to the contents of said pockets, I include within the meaning of that term,

the material supported and classified by said pockets, whether'or not .folders of the kind referred to are included in the material so supported.

While I have shown my invention in the particular embodiment above described, I" do not limit myself thereto, as I may employ equivalents thereof without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: v

' 1. In a vertical plan file, the combination of a casing, horizontally disposed member-sin the a upper portion of said casing in parallel arrangement, filing pockets suspended in. said casing I from and opening between said members, and

horizontally disposed bars on the inner surfaces of the'upper portions of opposite sidewalls of i said casing and supporting said members for sliding movement to accommodate, varying thicknesses of contents in said pockets,'each of said members being of sheet metal in the form at its mid-portion of a tube and having parallel edge flanges extending from the same side of said tube and secured together, and said pockets including vertically extending sheet metal bands located at their upper end portions between the flanges on said members and having" formed upper ends fitting within the tubes of said members.

2. In a vertical plan file, the combination of a casing, horizontally disposed'members in the upper portion of said casing in parallel arrangement, filing pockets suspended in said casing from and opening between said members, and

horizontally disposed bars on the inner surfaces I of the-upper portions of opposite side walls of said casing and supporting said members for sliding movement to accommodate varying thicknesses of contents in said pockets, each of said members being of sheet metal in the form at its mid-portion of a tube and having parallel taining the upper end portions of bands of ad jacent walls of two of said pockets, the formed upper ends of two adjacent ones of said latter from and opening between horizontally disposed bars 'on the inner surfaces of the upper portions of opposite side walls of spending member. b

3. In a vertical plan file, the combination of a casing, horizontally disposed members in the upper portion of said casingin parallel arrangement, filing pockets suspended in said casing from and opening between said members,

horizontally disposed bars on the inner surfaces of the lupperiportions of opposite side walls of said casing and supporting said members for sliding movement to accommodate varying thicknesses of contents in said pockets, and

vertically disposed partitions across the lower:

inner portion of said casingparallel with said pockets and holding said pockets in desired groupings. 1 4. In avertical planfile, the combination of a casing, horizontally disposed members in the v 1 upper portion of said casing in parallel arrangement, filing pockets suspended in said casing said saidcasing and supporting said members for sliding movement to accommodate varying thicknesses of contents in said pockets' and i vertically disposed partitions across the lower inner portionof said casing parallel with said groupings, said partitions having separable en gagement with said casing and being adjustable to change said groupings.

members,

pockets and holding said pockets in desired v 5. In a vertical plan file, the combination of a casing, horizontally disposed members in the upper portion of said casing in parallel arrangement, filing pockets suspended in said casing from and opening between said members,

horizontally disposed bars on the inner surfaces of the upper portions of opposite side walls of said casing and supporting said members for sliding movement to accommodate varying thicknesses of contents in said pockets, and vertically disposed partitions across the lower inner portion of said casing parallel with'said pockets and holding said pockets in desired groupings, each of said partitions having a length substantially equal to the distance between the casing walls adjacent the ends of said partition and having projecting end lugs, and said casing having slots for separable engagement with said lugs to hold said partitions in place;

6. In a vertical plan file, the combination of a casing, horizontally disposed members in the upper portion'of said casing in parallel arrangement, filing pockets suspended in said casing from and opening between said members,

horizontally disposed bars on the inner surfaces of the upperportions of opposite side walls of said casing and supporting said members for sliding movement to; accommodate varying thicknesses of contents in said pockets, and vertically disposed partitions. across I the lower inner portion of said casing parallel with said pockets and holding said pockets in desired groupings, each of said partitions having a length substantially equal to the distance between the casing walls adjacent the ends'of said partition and having projecting endings, and said casing having slots for separable engagement with said 7'0 lugs to hold said partitions in "place; said lugs having edge notches interlocking with the walls of said casing. g l CHARLES E. ULRICH. 

